Entering Brazil!

We flew from San Jose to Manaus, a city in northern Brazil that lies on the Amazon River. Stayed overnight to allow us time to reconfigure our packs for our 3 day trek through the Amazon (which we were scheduled to start the following morning)....so excited!

The next morning we stored our extra belongings at the hostel, and were shuttled to a small port where we were to board the first leg of our transport. Here we met our fellow trekkers...a couple from Sweden who had just spent the past 40 days sailing across the Atlantic, a extremely comedic Australian couple, 2 young guys from Israel (who were preparing to spend the next 14 days in the jungle), and a mother & daughter from Canada.

We hopped in a small water taxi which brought us across the Rio Negro to where it met the Rio Amazonas. This was an amazing sight. Though the two rivers flow right into one another, there is a distinct line where they meet....black to brown. They are of not only different temperature and current, but of different composition. We got off the boat, and loaded our packs into a couple of vans which brought us to the next river port. On the way we stopped at a random shack (to allow the boat driver time to prepare the boat), where we we given the oppertunity to try a number of indigenous, exotic fruits. Hopped into boat #2, and off we went to the depths of the Amazon!

Upon arrival at the "lodge", we were introduced to our guide, Alan. We dropped our stuff at our bungalows, and came down for lunch. The dining area was basically a simple wooden building right on the river. As we descended the steps to the dining area, a young local man approached in his ridiculously simple wooden boat, with a recently caught fish that essentially filled the bottom of the boat...no joke. The fish was a Pira Racu (I'm probably butchering the name), but it is the largest scaled fish in the world. A prehistoric fish that acutually has lungs! The fisherman then proceeded to scale and filet the fish right there on the dock (we have pictures of the entire process....on the other camera).

After lunch we tried our hand at piranha fishing, with only a simple bamboo rod and some chicken fat for bait. It actually proved to be rather easy, as they bit as soon as you drop the bait. It was here that Alan told us that swimming was relatively safe, he just advised against it if we had any open or bleeding cuts. Despite all the potential dangers (gators, piranhas, leeches, anacondas, microscopic fish that swim up your pee stream and eat you from the inside out) people still swim here...Ray went in, I couldn't muster up the courage. After fishing we all piled into what was to be our "family skiff" for the next few days, and spent the afternoon animal watching. We saw many birds, monkeys, sloths, caimans, gray & pink dolphins.

Later that evening we returned to the lodge to change into our long clothes (to ward off the insects), and back into the boat to hunt some caiman. For those who don´t know, as we did´t, caimans are related to crocodiles. Here it was a Friday night, and we were actually going Crocodile hunting!! Guided only by the light of the moon, the driver navigated us through the dark waters. Alan was standing on the bow of the boat with his headlamp, scanning the coast for the reflection of eyes. Once spotted, he would signal to the driver who would kill the motor. We then coasted to the edge of the river, Alan laying on his belly, the caiman essentially paralyzed by the light...and he would just snatch it up! Incredible.



The next morning we woke early to view that animals at sunrise. Later that day, we took a 3.5 hr hike through the jungle. Being as the jungle is so dense, it is virtually impossible to see any wildlife...but, we did learn a lot about the flora & fauna. We were given the opertunity to eat a coconut worm. A grub that is planted into a coconut by a fly, that basically lives off the coconut...supposedly a favorite with the monkeys! Gronya and Dan (the Australian couple) jumped at the chance to try one, unfortunately followed by Ray! No kisses for at least a week....

We headed back to the lodge to regroup for the evening...we would be spending the night in hammocks in the jungle!

Arrived at our camp, took another 1.5 hr hike, then back to hang our hammocks. Cooked chicken and rice over the campfire...then spent the evening highly entertained by the Australians! And despite a rocky start (cockroaches & baby tarantulas)...we all eventually fell asleep to the sweet screeching of the howler monkeys!

Woke, ate a quick breakfast, loaded the boat, and headed to the house of a local family. We arrived and 4 of the 11 children were bathing in the river. Amazing to see how this family lives. What initially appears to be complete poverty, actually unveils itself as complete self-sufficiency & sustainability.

Back to the lodge, a quick lunch of the previous day´s catch (both Pira Racu & pirahna), and then already time to head back to Manaus.

We spent the next day exploring the city while we killed time prior to our late night flight to the coast of Brazil. We ended the day at a beautiful "European-esque" square of Teatro Amazonas, where there was a live musical show going on on an outdoor stage, the animated version of Peter Pan played on a nearby screen, steet vendors galor, kids dancing through bubbles....very festive very fun!